Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to networked communications and, more specifically, to Ethernet loopback detection and service traffic blocking.
Description of the Related Art
In telecommunications, information is often sent, received, and processed according to the Open System Interconnection Reference Model (OSI Reference Model or OSI Model). In its most basic form, the OSI Model divides network architecture into seven layers which, from top to bottom, are the Application, Presentation, Session, Transport, Network, Data-Link, and Physical Layers, which are also known respectively as Layer 7 (L7), Layer 6 (L6), Layer 5 (L5), Layer 4 (L4), Layer 3 (L3), Layer 2 (L2), and Layer 1 (L1). It is therefore often referred to as the OSI Seven Layer Model.
A particular network element may function as a bridge and may forward network traffic based on unique identifiers (e.g., addresses such as MAC addresses) associated with network segments or sub-networks coupled to the particular network element at corresponding egress interfaces of the particular network element. In certain network architectures, a connection-oriented Ethernet (COE) is implemented that enables forwarding based on virtual local area network (VLAN) tags included in Ethernet frames.
When network traffic is forwarded to a customer network by a service provider network, loopback connections that directly return the network traffic to the service provider network may be undesirable and may be a risk to network operations.